Implement foe weeding and



r (No Model.)

L. O HILL. N IMPLEMENT FOB. WEEDING AND THINNING PLANTS.

No. 341,844. v Patented May 11, 1886.

WITNESSES '06 W, IJVVEJVTOIN, WNW

LOUIS O. HILL, OF MYRTLE GREEK, OREGON, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF TO JOHN W. WEAVER, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPLEMENT FOR WEEDING AND THINNING PLANTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 341,844, dated May 11, 1886.

Application filed October 19. 1885. Serial No. 180,224. (No model.)

To 61/ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS O. HILL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Myrtle Creek, in the county of Douglas and State of 5 Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Implements for Weeding and Thinning Plants; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, andin which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved implement for weeding and thinning plants. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the device, showing a slightly modified construction of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the handle, showing the manner of fastening the blade in the same, and Fig. 4 is a cross-section through line mac in Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in all the figures.

My invention has relation to devices for weeding and thinning plants in flower-beds; and it consists in the improved utensil which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed, which is adapted for use by hand, and in a variety of ways, and which at the same time can be manufactured at a very small expense.

In the accompanying drawings, A denotes the handle, which may be of wood or any other desired material, and of any suitable length. This handle is split at its lower end, so as to form a T-shaped kerf or slot, B, for the insertion of the ends O O of the blade D. The latter consists of a strip of steel or iron bent into a stirrup shape, as shown in the drawings, with its two ends, O, bent in opposite directions at their tips, and placed against each other and inserted into the kerf B, in which they are held firmly by forcing together the two jaws of the slot, either by means of a ferrule or by winding that part of the handle with strong cord or wire, as shown at E. A piece of hoop-iron of suitable width will answer the purpose very well, or a piece of band 50 steel of the kind used in band-saws will be found efficient.

If desired, one or both edges of the blade may be serrated by formingaseries of notches in it, as shown at F in Fig. 2. VVhe're these teeth and notches are formed on opposite sides of the blade, they should be disposed or arranged alternately, so as not to unduly weaken the blade.

Various ways of using this utensil will readil y suggest themselves to any one acquainted with the art of gardening. The thin cuttingedge of the blade, formc'd at the corners d d, may be used for cutting off runners or climbers, as well as for digging up the earth in close proximity to the plants. The corners are used for weeding between the plants, which, with a little care, may be done without injury to closely-set plants.

If theblade should become blunt or broken, another one may readily be inserted by any person of ordinary skill.

I am aware that it is not new to construct a garden implement of a piece of metal bent into a triangular shape and secured to the end of a handle by means of bolts through the ends of the blade and the handle, and also of securing a flat blade to the end of a handle by means of thick and narrow clampingbars having their ends bent in and secured in grooves in the sides of the handle by means of a ferrule around the handle, and I do not claim such construc tion, broadly; but

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- The combination, with a suitable handle having a vertical T-shaped kerf in its lower end, of a thin triangular-shaped blade of the same width throughout, the fiat ends of which bear against eachother, and are bent outwardly in opposite directions at their tips and 0 inserted in said kerf, and a ferrule fitting said handle around said kerf, as shown and described.

Intestimony that I claim the foregoing as my own [have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WALTER V. LIPPINOOTT, JENNIE BUICK. 

